Archive for June, 2004

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June 30th, 2004

Gary “Pink Slip” Bettman

Are the sharp staff cuts in front offices around the NHL in anticipation of a lockout legitimate belt tightening, or public posturing at the expense of defenseless employees?

"We're certainly trying to be as efficient as we can," Caps president Dick Patrick said.

Leaguewide, the staff cuts are more extensive than those seen in the days leading up to and during the 103-day NHL lockout of 1994-95.

"It's sort of a different feeling now," Patrick said. "Last time, there was, I think, a prevailing thought that it could be settled at any time. You obviously hope we can settle [the current dispute] without losing any games. But you don't know how long this could take."

At the league's two offices in New York and Toronto, staff cuts could amount to 150 positions -- a 50 percent cut in the league's headquarters staff.

Something tells me they're serious this time.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 2 Comments »

 
June 30th, 2004

D.C. Baseball Update

USA Today is reporting that Major League Baseball's relocation committee is leaning toward sending the Expos to the Washington area, but can't decide whether to award the team to the group from the District or Northern Virginia.

Here's what comissioner Bud had to say:

Selig believes baseball made an unwise decision when it allowed the Kansas City A's to relocate in 1968 to Oakland, across the bay from the San Francisco Giants.

"That was done without assuming what it was going to do to San Francisco," Selig said. "The leagues were more concerned about having a rivalry with each other than doing the right thing. As a result there's been a fortune lost in those cities over the past 36 years."

Which would seem to lend creedence to this report by Eric Fisher in the Washington Times that Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos has lent his support to a 11th-hour effort from a group based in Puerto Rico.

An analysis by USA Today rated the Northern Virginia site the best of all the proposals that have been submitted to MLB. Nota bene: USA Today is headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, about 20 minutes from the proposed ballpark. The author of the Washington Post's three-part series on baseball and the Expos favors Northern Virginia's bid as well:

The bottom line is I really have no idea, but since you asked for an educated guess, I would say Northern Virginia. That guess -- and it is purely a guess -- has less to do with the relative merits of the sites and the financing proposals than the internal politics now in play. Virginia might be perceived inside baseball -- and in particular by Commissioner Bud Selig -- as posing less of a threat to the Baltimore Orioles and his close ally, Peter Angelos. It's the path of least resistance, which is what Selig usually prefers. That said, I would not be shocked at all if they go to D.C. or Vegas. I think Portland, Monterrey and San Juan are less likely.

Primary assist to The Sports Economist, and Distinguished Senators. Skip also fronts news from Pittsburgh that the construction of new baseball and football stadiums has failed to create a significant economic impact, while the city may be headed into the municipal equivalent of bankruptcy.

UPDATE: Washington Mayor Anthony Williams just took a shot at the financing behind Northern Virginia's bid. Bill Collins, a man who has labored long to bring Major League Baseball to Northern Virginia, tried to sell his proposal to Loudoun County Republicans last night, but some weren't exactly buying.

Posted in D.C. Baseball by Eric McErlain | 7 Comments »

 
June 30th, 2004

Question Of The Day

This one has been on my mind for a while: which sports television personality would you most like to see thrown off the air? I know I have a few picks, or at least a few folks that make me reach for the MUTE button on my remote.

Leave your votes below.

Posted in Media by Eric McErlain | 32 Comments »

 
June 30th, 2004

She Said, He Said

There's an interesting back and forth taking place on the pages of the Washington Post Sports section between two of their most prominent columnists. One the one hand you have Sally Jenkins, the paper's New York-based columnist taking up the cause of American sprinter Marion Jones in her fight against anti-doping authorities. As she wrote two days ago:

I'll say it straight out: I believe Marion Jones when she says she's innocent, based on what is a persuasive piece of evidence in her favor. In the last four years, Jones has not gotten faster. She's gotten slower. Whatever Jones may be taking, it isn't performance enhancing.

Jenkins neglects to inform her reader that Jones had a little complication called pregnancy in the middle of that four-year stretch. As for her conclusion that Jones couldn't be taking anything because she was slowing down, there is always the possibility that taking a banned substance might have slowed the erosion of her speed caused by the pregnancy.

Which is where old Post hand Tony Kornheiser steps in:

[I] hope Marion Jones is innocent. I hope she never as much as looked at a performance-enhancing drug, let alone took one. But there is enough smoke around this woman to choke a horse, and you have to wonder if somewhere there's any fire. Here is a woman whose former husband, an Olympic shot putter, was popped for testing positive for steroids, and whose current paramour (and father of her child), an Olympic sprinter, is accused of taking steroids -- and has reportedly testified to a grand jury that he did so. Plus, Jones is one of many elite athletes who have been affiliated with BALCO, which is being investigated for producing and distributing steroids. How could it be illegitimate to look at Marion Jones? How could anyone not think that Marion Jones is what we have come to call "a person of interest"?

I wonder if Jenkins will have a response. Stay tuned.

Posted in Steroids And Doping by Eric McErlain | 5 Comments »

 
June 30th, 2004

Rink Notes

At Midnight tonight, the NHL will issue its list of unrestricted free agents -- a list that Larry Brooks is reporting will include Eric Lindros:

Carl Lindros effectively guaranteed the end of Eric Lindros' Ranger career with an emotional verbal assault against Glen Sather that No. 88's father and agent issued on the cusp of his son becoming an unrestricted free agent. The Rangers, who are not picking up their $10.25 million option on the 31-year-old center, have not been in touch with either Eric or Carl Lindros since the end of the season to discuss any future relationship. "I'd have thought I'd heard from the Rangers because Eric was their best player for a number of months last year, but that isn't the case," Carl Lindros told The Post by phone last night from his home outside Toronto. "But last year was kind of bizarre. It was dysfunctional."

For Carl Lindros to refer to any situation as bizzare and dysfunctional is a little ironic, isn't it?

For a look at all of the potential free agents, click here for a list of forwards, and here for defensemen and goalies.

Two names who won't be on that list are Jeff O'Neill and Luc Robitaille, both having been resigned by their respective clubs. The Maple Leafs want to bring back Ed Belfour, but he's holding out for lockout protection in the form of a huge signing bonus.

Looking to draft a European player? Alan Hahn of Newsday takes a look at some of the challenges.

Jes Golbez has been on a roll of late (and soon to be added to the blogroll on the left). Check out Hockey's Mr. Irrelevant -- the last choice of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

One last note: I can't say enough about how Sharkspage has raised the bar for the rest of the competition when it comes to hockey blogs. Simply by using a clean Blogger template, and integrating an RSS feed, PJ has put together a page that is far more visually compelling than his original design.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 3 Comments »

 
June 29th, 2004

Cuban Followup

Yesterday I linked to a Mark Cuban post where he called Pete Vescey, Sam Smith and Norman Chad "sports gossip columnists." I understood where Cuban was coming from with Vescey and Smith, but I found his take on Chad a little puzzling.

After all, I've been reading Chad's schtick for a while now, and I thought his stuff was pretty harmless, and entertaining on more than one occasion.

So I sent Cuban an email to ask him his reasoning. Here was his response.

He pretends to be factual and rarely is.

Here's a link to Chad's column archive. Read and decide for yourself.

Posted in Media by Eric McErlain | 5 Comments »

 
June 29th, 2004

Agreeing With Angelos

The Washington Post has just completed a three-part series on the way Major League Baseball works behind the scenes, and why the way they do business is conspiring against the Washington area ever getting another ball club of its own. It's an exhaustive examination, and confirms a lot of what I've written here before, including that the presence of a team in the Washington area would devestate the Orioles broadcast television revenues.

Part I: Bud Selig, Milwaukee and Miller Park

Part II: The Saga Of The Expos

Part III: Bud Selig and Peter Angelos

Buried inside Part III of the series, is a passage all sports fans who like to take side in labor wars ought to pay close attention to:

"The more he dealt with players, and the longer he was in the game, the more he understood [that] these aren't dock workers," said one executive who worked under Angelos during this period and requested anonymity because he still does business with the Orioles.

Angelos began to refer to the players' association as a "guild," a term he used to draw comparisons of the players to pampered entertainers, according to a major league official who interacted with him.

Time and again, I've seen owners of sports teams demonized for their unending greed and avarice, taking advantage of the poor players who, after all, are the stars of the game.

But what we need to understand, no matter what the sport may be, that labor disputes in this area are normally between the haves, and the have mores. Any resemblance to traditional labor negotiations are entirely coincidental.

UPDATE: Welcome to readers of David Pinto's Baseball Musings. I'm glad you're here. Though we mostly cover the NHL here at Off Wing, we try our hand at any and all sports. And since we're based in Washington, D.C., we've been following the saga of the Expos quite closely over the last two years.

One point for David -- in reference to my comment about television revenues and the Orioles, he says that the Birds would have nothing to fear from a Washington-based team as long as that team wasn't given exclusive rights to the television markets the Orioles now serve.

I'm afraid I have to disagree. If neither Baltimore nor Washington had a team, which metro area would you choose to locate it? Despite the fact that the Federal government considers the two cities to be part of the same Metropolitan Statistical Area, folks who live here know that we're pretty much two separate and distinct metro areas.

And from the perspective of a television advertiser, the Washington area is far more attractive. Compared to Baltimore it's better educated, and far more affluent. Drop a ball team in D.C., and all of a sudden those regional advertisers have another option. Supply of ad space will rise, the price will fall -- and the Orioles will experience downward pressure on a formerly ancillary revenue stream that they've come to count on.

David's comparison with the New York area is inexact as well. Not only is it far larger than Baltimore-Washington, but there are a number of discrete areas where each team is dominant in terms of fan base (the Mets have always been stronger on Long Island, while the Yankees absolutely dominate North Jersey). But here, the two teams will immediately compete for the same set of affluent fans and the same television advertisers.

Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | 4 Comments »

 
June 29th, 2004

NBA Suicide Watch

With the NHL on the precipice of labor Armageddon, it looks like the NBA is considering the same course of action:

Union director Billy Hunter addressed several dozen players at the union's annual meeting during a session devoted mainly to labor issues. His message was that history could very well repeat itself, with a distinct possibility there could be a lockout next summer.

"We don't come to this process as neophytes. We don't have the same kind of naivety that we had before," Hunter told The Associated Press. "The guys understand that the negotiations could ultimately result in another lockout, and they have to prepare themselves for that.

"If the owners are not inclined to retreat from their current proposal, there's a high probability there can be another lockout," Hunter said.

Look on the bright side: more NHL highlights on ESPN. That's if the NHL even exists.

Posted in Basketball by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »

 
June 29th, 2004

Canadian Election Wrap-Up

While the polls closest to election day seemed to foreshadow a big victory for Canada's unified Conservative Party, the nation's voters had other ideas, putting Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin into power in his own right for the first time, albeit at the head of a minority government where he'll have to share power with the far smaller (and more radical), New Democratic Party (NDP).

Looking at the vote totals, it seems as if most of the voters disgusted by the ruling Liberals casual corruption, cast their protest votes not for the Conservatives, but rather for the smaller NDP. Further, the Conservatives, formed by the merger of the former Progressive Conservatives and the Western-based Canadian Alliance, actually won fewer votes this time out than the two parties combined had in the previous Federal election.

The other big winner on the night was the Bloc Quebecois, who hadn't won this many seats in the House of Commons since the heyday of separatist fervor in the early 1990s.

On the hockey side, Liberal candidate Ken Dryden won his safe Toronto seat easily. Former Quebec Nordique Peter Stasny, a Conservative candidate in Quebec, didn't fare as well.

As always, check out Colby Cosh for his post mortem.

CORRECTION: Looks like it was the wrong Peter Stasny. Thanks to Mike MacLean of Ottawa Sports Blog for setting me straight.

Posted in Politics by Eric McErlain | 4 Comments »

 
June 28th, 2004

ESPN And Anti-Trust

When I read about the news that the Justice Department had just opened an investigation of ESPN concerning it's broadcast contracts with a number of collegiate sports conferences, I couldn't help but shake my head. After all, aren't there more pressing problems the Federal government has to deal with these days?

I just got a note from reader Skip Oliva that puts it all in perspective:

Here's what this sounds like: The DOJ staff is trying to find some way to use "essential facilities" doctrine to regulate ESPN scheduling. In antitrust law, when a firm becomes dominant through their own initiative, the courts allow the government to call it an "essential facility" and treat it as a quasi-utility. . .

And remember, every dollar and man the DOJ spends on ESPN is *not* going to find those pesky terrorists. . .

In other words, we need something to keep these lawyers busy.

For years now, I've complained about ESPN's tendency to air college basketball games that nobody, outside of alumni and students of the two teams playing, would possibly want to watch. Simply put, ESPN is the best thing that's ever happened to collegiate athletics, affording national exposure to a number of athletic programs that never had the opportunity before.

Again, why are we using government resources on an investigation like this?

Posted in Politics by Eric McErlain | 3 Comments »

 
June 28th, 2004

Calling Them Out

Mark Cuban turns the deck guns on some big names in sports journalism:

In the Entertainment biz, they have very honest job descriptions. Someone who creates and reports gossip is called a gossip columnist. Joan Rivers, Page Six, Cindy Adams, etc. don

Posted in Basketball by Eric McErlain | 6 Comments »

 
June 28th, 2004

Sports And Honor

Greg at The End Zone delivers an ethical riddle:

Imagine your teenager is preparing to play high school sports. He or she will encounter sports opponents who will grab and hold them when the referees are not looking. When the referees are looking, the opponents will exaggerate or fake their reactive movements, acting as if your child has committed a foul against them. How do you teach your child to ethically respond to such tactics? What constitutes honorable play in a sports game which is officiated by referees or umpires?

Well, when I was on the ice, I know how I handled it.

Here's a thoughtful response from Steven Den Beste, where he invokes Clausewitz.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | No Comments »

 
June 28th, 2004

Thumbs Up For Dodgeball

Just another mindless, but fun, Summertime film. The cameo appearances alone make it worthwhile, and I'm still not sure whether Lance Armstrong or David Hasslehoff was funnier.

Posted in Media by Eric McErlain | No Comments »

 
June 28th, 2004

Rink Notes

There were a couple of trades in and around the draft that are worth mentioning -- with the deal that sent Patrick Lalime to St. Louis from Ottawa probably the most significant. With their first pick in the draft, the Blues snagged goaltender Marek Schwarz from the Czech Republic, and it looks like Lalime will keep the position warm for Schwarz until he's ready to play with the big club.

In a three way deal, Radek Bonk went from Ottawa to Montreal, but had to take a connecting flight through Los Angeles to get there. Can it really be true that Bonk -- a highly touted talent that played minor league hockey before his 18th birthday (those halcyon days with the Las Vegas Thunder), has spent parts of 10 seasons in the NHL? Now he's just an offseason salary dump.

Jes Golbez breaks down all the other details -- and gives a big thumbs up to just about every deal. Jes also picked up on what I thought was the best line of the televised draft coverage when ex-Canucks GM Brian Burke described Dallas first round pick Marc Fistric as "tougher than a night in jail."

Over at Hockeybird, they're loving the Rangers' pick of Al Montoya -- a man whose selection ended any chance that Dan Blackburn might be living in New York over the long term.

Blackburn needs to think of the upside -- at least he can count on escaping the confiscatory state tax rates that New Yorkers have grown to hate.

The Rodent has some thoughts on a Gary Bettman trial balloon, or shall we call it a lead trial balloon.

And Larry Brooks gets off another great joke for the second week in a row:

Finally, while the entire Rangers' hockey staff dined in a private room of a downtown steak house here Friday night, Ted Leonsis and his party were at a table in a different section of the eatery. As per terms of the Jaromir Jagr deal, the Washington owner picked up half of the Rangers' check.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »

 
June 28th, 2004

Election Day In Canada

Canada votes today in what looks to be the closest election North of the border in some time -- in fact, whoever wins will probably be forced to govern as a minority party in the House of Commons.

Unlike some other Americans, the staff here at Off Wing doesn't presume to tell Canadians who to vote for. We just ask that you exercise your right to vote, and we'll be prepared to deal with whoever gets to put together a government in Ottawa.

UPDATE: Check out Colby Cosh's Election Day In A Box for all your Canadian electoral needs.

ANOTHER UPDATE: For any Canadians living South of the border, C-Span will be picking up the CBC's election coverage beginning at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

OT UPDATE: Other spots to go: Jay Jardine, Andrew Coyne and Blogs Canada.

Posted in Politics by Eric McErlain | 2 Comments »

 
June 26th, 2004

Thoughts On The NHL Draft

I knew I said I wouldn't be watching the NHL Draft, but I flipped on the television just as soon as I got back from the gym to watch for a few minutes.

Just a few thoughts:

The NHL needs to take the lead from the NBA and the NFL when it comes to their draft telecast. I've had enough of every team sending up five or six guys in monkey suits to announce a draft pick. Instead, send up one guy, and set aside a spot just off the dais where you can take all of your publicity photos.

And enough with thanking the local fans for their fantastic hospitality. Let Gary Bettman do it once, and then everyone needs to keep it simple. After hearing how great Raleigh is for the tenth time, it gets a little old.

As for the guys being picked, could somebody seat them closer to the stage? If I was producing this broadcast, I'd tell every pick that they need to get up there faster than a contestant on The Price Is Right. "CAM BARKER, COME ON DOWN, YOUR THE NEXT CHOICE IN THE 2004 NHL ENTRY DRAFT!"

UPDATE: Al Montoya's selection by the Rangers was a nice moment. Son of Cuban refugees makes it to the NHL, and gets chosen by one of the most famous sports franchises in the world. And that's what America is all about.

Phoenix suprised plenty of folks when they took U.S. high school junior Blake Wheeler with the fifth pick. The Central Scouting Bureau had Wheeler ranked as the 17th best skater, and TSN's Bob Mackenzie had him ranked 31st overall.

You'd figure that Phoenix would have moved down in order to get some more picks or maybe a player, and wait around till a little later to snag Wheeler. You have to wonder if Phoenix got wind of the possibility that somebody else wanted to snag him.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Though Ben Wright beat me to it, I think it bears repeating -- a few minutes ago the Caps selected Chris Bourque with the 33rd overall pick. According to the CSB, Bourque is rated as the 74th best skater in this year's draft. And yes, he is Ray's son and just graduated from high school.

With the Caps also owning a pick at the end of the second round, General Manager George McPhee ought to be explaining why he took Bourque so early. At 5'7", 170 lbs, he isn't exactly an imposing physical specimen. Granted, he dominated Massachusetts prep hockey, and will attend Boston University in the Fall, but I'm scratching my head here.

Furthermore, you've got two years to sign a prospect after you take him in the draft -- otherwise he goes back into the pool. Does McPhee really believe that Bourque is going to be ready for the NHL by 2006, and that he'll be willing to forfeit his last two years of college eligibility at BU?

That's a lot to write about a second round draft pick, but like I said, I'm a little puzzled.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 7 Comments »

 
June 25th, 2004

Housekeeping Note

Due to a more or less constant assault by comment spammers deep in my archives, I've temporarily suspended the ability to add HTML tags into the comments box. Once I have time to implement an alternate solution, I'll reactivate that feature.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I really don't feel I have any other choice. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Posted in Media by Eric McErlain | 7 Comments »

 
June 25th, 2004

Revisiting ‘Miracle’

Having seen Disney's Miracle twice in the theater, I haven't taken time to watch it on DVD as of yet. But Colby Cosh, catching up on his movie viewing, saw it for the first time, and adds some valuable historical perspective on what may be the greatest upset in the history of global sport:

[T]hey beat what may have the best team that ever existed. You can't even make a sane analogy for it in most sports. It would be sort of like a baseball club of good collegiate players beating an All-Star team composed of the most talented guys from the major leagues, if the All-Star team had been playing together for a decade, and had the right to draft new players constantly, and when I say "draft" I don't mean "draft" like a sports draft but "draft" as in "We can shoot you if you don't play."

If it hadn't actually happened, they would never dare make a movie about it.

I may have to buy the DVD tonight and watch -- right after I give the latest from the Beastie Boys a thorough listen.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 3 Comments »

 
June 25th, 2004

Caveat Emptor

About a week ago, I received an upbeat email from a salesman with the Washington Captials ticket office, telling me what a great investment season tickets for the 2004-05 season really are:

Whether you have an individual interest or are looking for a business investment, I truly believe there are many benefits to becoming a season ticket holder with the Caps. We offer the lowest possible ticket prices, private parties with the players, and an interest-free monthly payment plan just to name a few!

From an individual perspective, taking friends and family to an exciting and fun-filled Caps game can help strengthen those extremely important bonds. From a business perspective, entertaining business clients and employees at Caps games can be good for the bottom line; and tax deductible too.

I invite you to come and see for yourself - nothing compares to the "good old hockey game!"

Which of course is absolute bunk, as the owners have essentially decided to lock out the players before training camp. Not that I can really blame this guy, as he's a salesman in a tough spot. If his note gives him an entree to a customer, there's very little harm, just as long as the follow-up call provides details as to how to get a refund in the event of a work stoppage.

But that's apparently not the case. I had another email exchange with one of my readers who is a Caps season ticket holder. He recently got a cold call from another salesman who was being a little less up front about the current situation:

Lying. Pretending they know nothing about it, that they've never HEARD the words "labor trouble." Saying things like 'We have no reason to believe that there will be a work stoppage.'

This is more than a little troubling. In fact, just like in many other NHL cities, the Capitals have begun laying off front office employees in anticipation of the lockout. The most recent victim of these cutbacks was Shawn Simpson, a former draft pick who had been with the organization for 18 years, serving for the last seven as director of hockey operations.

If anyone else has gotten one of these cold calls, drop me a line.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | No Comments »

 
June 25th, 2004

Ankle Deep In The Hoopla

I was going to put together a big package on the NHL Draft, and thenTom Benjamin brought me back to my senses:

The entire draft will produce very few players. Although every team drafts ten players, no more than three or four a team will actually be signed.

While around 120 players drafted will be offered contracts and eventually play in an NHL game, only 30 to 40 will survive 400 games and earn an NHL pension.

Around half of those real players drafted will go in the first round. The rest will be scattered almost randomly throughout the remaining rounds.

After the first 15 picks or so, the draft becomes a near crapshoot. An excellent case can be made that the teams that do well after the first handful of picks do well because they provide opportunity and development rather than because they select well.

In other words, most of the hoopla is just that - hoopla. . .

The moral of the story? There are better things to do than to actually sit down and watch the draft on Saturday.

I think I'm going to buy some furniture -- especially since Mike Milbury doesn't look to be dealing anybody this year. Besides, it looks like the Washington Capitals have decided to keep their pick, and select Alexander Ovechkin.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 2 Comments »

 
June 25th, 2004

Random Baseball Links

For Timothy Egan's look at Midnight Baseball in Alaska from the New York Times, click here. Over at the Washington Post Eve Zibart recounts her visits to all of the minor league ballparks in and around Washington (travelling as far afield as Wilmington, Delaware).

Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | No Comments »

 
June 24th, 2004

Better Driving Through Technology

Nick Schulz, editor of Tech Central Station and Transition Game, on why Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominate the F1 circuit:

Ferrari can perpetually fine-tune a suite of technologies so that its cars perform under the most extreme conditions of acceleration, braking, and turning. As a consequence, Schumacher's car almost never has significant technical problems, a huge advantage in a sport where the ultra-expensive cars often just stop working because of technical malfunctions. To keep up with Ferrari's superior machines, other drivers have to take risks. As such, they consistently make mistakes out of impatience, imprudence, or desperation

Posted in Auto Racing by Eric McErlain | No Comments »

 
June 24th, 2004

Bertuzzi Charged

The next act in the saga of Vancouver Canucks winger Todd Bertuzzi began today, when local authorities in Vancouver charged the 29-year old with assault assault causing bodily harm in connection with his March 8th attack on Colorado Avalanche center Steven Moore.

No word yet on a date for a preliminary hearing, or when Bertuzzi is expected to surrender himself to the authorities.

This is a bad day for the NHL -- one among many that the league is going to have over the next few months.

More later, as reaction comes in.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 2 Comments »

 
June 24th, 2004

D.C. Baseball Update

Ryan at Distinguished Senators has posted a response to my last post about the relative benefits of the competing plans to bring the Expos to either Washington or Northern Virginia, and he's brought up some points that ought to be addressed.

Let me state once again: sure, I'd love to see the Montreal Expos move somewhere in the Washington area -- I just don't think we should be pursuing a ballclub at any and all costs. We need to look at all of the proposals with a cold eye, and be honest about what the final bill is going to be, and what else we could do with the money and resources that would be needed to build a ballpark.

The Senators left Washington after the 1971 season. In the 33 years since, we've seen the quality of life in this area improve markedly -- and it wouldn't have been any better if the Senators had stayed. In fact, can anyone prove to me that life has gotten worse for the District since the Redskins left back in the 1990s?

Sure, the game day experience out in Raljohn isn't what it was at RFK (believe me, I actually went to a couple of games in both places, and it isn't the same), but for the vast majority of folks aside from the 70,000+ that go to FedEx Field 10 times a season, things haven't changed at all.

As for MCI Center, sure, it's helped revive Chinatown. But, as everyone ought to remember, Abe Pollin built the place with his own cash, and he's reaping the benefits.

He took the risk, it's only right that he enjoy the rewards.

If a stadium in Washington is such a great deal financially, then why is Fred Malek's Washington Baseball unwilling to front any of its own cash to build it?

Ryan also talks about business generated around a ballpark on gameday, and cites it as evidence that we'd see much the same development here in Washington as in Baltimore near Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. Besides, he's seen the incredible crowds at Max's, and wouldn't the same thing happen here?

But what Ryan won't talk about is what Baltimore looks like only a few blocks West of Max's down past the Baltimore Arena. What he'll see there is a depressed neighborhood that fans work hard to avoid on their way to the stadium.

I wonder how much extra business they see on game day?

That's why we call in the wonks -- the people who can do a serious cost/benefit analysis of a project, and tell us what the truth is beyond what we can plainly see with our own eyes. In this case, does the ancillary economic activity generated by a ballpark justfiy the additional public expenditures required to build it?

And the wonks, time and again, have said no. In a way, we need to be sure we're analyzing and measuring the right stats in order to get to the truth -- which sounds a lot like the idea behind baseball's own incredible wonkfest, Sabermetrics.

Do I support building a stadium in Loudoun County? Not really, but I'm a whole lot less worried about it now that I know that I won't be asked to pay for it. There are still plenty of obstacles -- the traffic problem being the most prominent, and one I've dealt with more times than I can count, most recently right here.

Baseball was the sport I first played and the sport I first loved. I'm sure I'd be very happy to see whatever we wind up calling the Expos play my beloved New York Mets on a regular basis -- whether that stadium is in Virginia or Washington.

But what we shouldn't do, is pursue this so aggressively that we wind up overpaying to make it happen. And don't doubt for a second that if the tax revenue generated by either of these ballparks falls short of the projections, that local taxpayers are going to be left holding the bag. And in the case of District taxpayers, already forced to pay more than any others in the Washington metro area, it's another bill they can ill afford to foot.

POSTSCRIPT: To see everything I've ever written about the prospects of the Expos moving to D.C. -- something I've been following here at Off Wing since early 2002 -- click here.

Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »

 
June 24th, 2004

Watch What You Ingest

In case you haven't noticed, Tennis of all sports has a steroid problem too. And here's a quote from one of the greats of the game that ought to put into perspective just how widespread the use of performance enhancing drugs really are:

"If you walk into a General Nutrition Center, any place that sells supplements, and you just randomly pick something off the shelf, you have close to a 20 percent chance of there being something in there that we, as players, aren't allowed to take," Andre Agassi said. "You might have contamination willfully, meaning the manufacturer actually puts additional stuff in that they don't list on the label."

As we've noted before here at OffWing, the nutritional supplement industry is completely unregulated, so you literally don't know what you might be taking.

Posted in Tennis by Eric McErlain | 2 Comments »

 
June 24th, 2004

Montgomery: BALCO Supplied Bonds Steroids

Here's some interesting news out of the Bay Area this morning:

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds obtained the steroid Winstrol from BALCO founder Victor Conte, track star Tim Montgomery told a federal grand jury last year.

Montgomery's testimony about Bonds is secondhand, a recounting of what Montgomery said Conte told him when the track star visited the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame in 2000 or 2001.

But Montgomery's claim that Bonds got banned substances at BALCO is corroborated by a statement that federal authorities say Conte himself made during a raid on the lab last year.

As a result of his testimony regarding his own steroids use, Montgomery is facing a lifetime ban from competition at the behest of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

The article further states that Bonds sought these drugs because of his concerns about the random testing that Major League Baseball instituted at the start of the 2003 season. Apparently, the steroids Bonds reportedly obtained, are not detectable using current testing methods.

On some days, Bonds seems like the greatest player in the history of the game. On others, it seems like he might wreck it. This is one of those days.

Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | 1 Comment »

 
June 23rd, 2004

D.C. Baseball Update

For some time now, I've been pretty conflicted over the issue of bringing the Expos to Washington. Sure, I'd love to see a baseball team in the Washington area, but we ought to be asking just what price we're willing to pay to make it happen.

As a Virignia resident, I couldn't see justifying any sort of public expenditures for a ballpark while the state was in the midst of a fiscal crisis. As for any of the proposed stadium sites on my side of the Potomac, there simply isn't any spot available in Northern Virginia that wouldn't exacerbate an already overtaxed transportation system (something both Peter White and I have noted recently).

Which leads us to the District. Because the transportation infrastructure in the Washington Metropolitan Area was designed to move government employees from the suburbs to downtown, putting a stadium there makes the most sense. The roads are there, the Metro is there, the tourists are there.

Unfortunately, given the District's history of fiscal irresponsibility, building a new ballpark would probably fall on the backs of local taxpayers -- something that's bound to make Washington a less attractive place to do business. And the plan that Mayor Anthony Williams has proposed to the D.C. City Council, but has yet to be approved (thanks to City Councilman Jack Evans), puts the onus of paying for the new stadium on businesses that are overtaxed already.

Which is why the latest post about Virginia baseball over at Distinguished Senators seems more than a little ironic. Ryan titled his post, Commonwealth of Whores, playing off the title of P.J. O'Rourke's Parliament of Whores -- an excellent read you ought to make time for.

For those who haven't read Parliament, it's all about how the Federal Government finds incredibly creative ways to waste our tax dollars. But when it comes to the question about Washington baseball, it's the officials in the District who are going to be ripping off taxpayers, while the Virginia plan announced this week doesn't commit the state to any new public expenditures in support of a stadium.

As a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, Ryan may not care that the folks in the District are going to be asked to pay for the ballpark he so dearly wants downtown. Unfortunately, with businesses in the city taxed so heavily already, the plan he's favoring would only encourage those who are going to be asked to pay for the stadium to flee the city like so many others before them.

Want to know why Loudoun County, Virginia is the fastest growing county in the U.S.? Look no further than the absolute mess that the District has become when it comes to essential city services (public safety, sanitation, education). And it isn't just a case of Westward migration either, as the explosive growth of Prince George's County, spurred on by an exodus of the African-American middle class from the city, adequately demonstrates.

I've lived in the Washington area for 19 years. I've lived in the District (Brookland and the SW Waterfront), worked in Montgomery County, and lived for the last 13 years in Northern Virginia (Alexandria, Crystal City, McLean, Reston). After all that time, I can say one thing for sure -- life in our area has gotten significantly better everywhere, and we did it without a baseball team. In fact, we've survived 33 years without it, and we sure as Hell don't need to overpay to get one now.

So say what you want about the Virginia proposal -- at least it doesn't lean on already overburdened taxpayers to finance a stadium for multimillionaires who won't finance a ballpark out of their own deep pockets.

CORRECTION: Yesterday, I upbraided the Washington Post for not sending a reporter to the Dulles press conference announcing the details of the plan for a Virginia ballpark. Turns out I was wrong. Thanks to reader Vincent Paterno, who directed me to two pieces that appeared in the paper's Metro section yesterday. Here's the straight news story, as well as Metro columnist Marc Fisher's anti-suburban screed.

Why did I miss these two? First off, because I didn't look hard enough through the online edition. And second, because the Post neglected to include links to either piece in the Sports section of their online edition -- an oversight that they should correct in the future.

UPDATE: Is Northern Virginia big enough to support a team on its own? The one reporter in town who knows the issue better than anybody else, Eric Fisher of the Washington Times takes a look.

Posted in D.C. Baseball by Eric McErlain | 5 Comments »

 
June 23rd, 2004

Reclaiming Lord Stanley

Beginning on September 13th, 2004, the owners and the players of the National Hockey League are set to begin a protracted labor war that will put the game we love so much into deep freeze at the professional level. And if the situation persists for too long, Bill Lankhof of the Toronto Star thinks it might be time to take away the Stanley Cup:

"In 1947 there was a formal agreement between the trustees whereby the league was delegated the full authority ... making the Stanley Cup a competition for NHL teams," points out Gary Meagher, the NHL vice-president of public relations. He's right. You can check it in Total Hockey, 2nd Edition. Page 355. But wait...! The text goes on: "the agreement shall remain in force so long as the league continues to be the world's leading professional hockey league as determined by it's playing calibre, and in the event of dissolution or other termination of the National Hockey League, the Stanley Cup shall revert to the custody of the trustees." (emphasis mine, EMc)

It wouldn't take a Johnnie Cochrane to argue that a strike or lockout could be seen as "other termination". Not to mention, if they're not playing, the NHL can hardly be "the world's leading professional hockey league." And, if they're not competing, NHL teams are forfeiting their claim to the Cup.

The ridiculous antics of both the owner and players union aside, this strikes me as something of an empty gesture. Granted, it would be a great one day story if the trustees of the Cup (whoever they might be) sent a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman demanding an explanation as to why they shouldn't be able to revoke the league's rights to the Cup. But what happens after that?

Assists to the Hockey Pundits and Puck Update.

Posted in Hockey by Eric McErlain | 2 Comments »

 
June 22nd, 2004

Cuba Libre’

Last week, I neglected to link to this New York Times piece that told the story of how Cuban authorities were preventing the family of New York Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras from leaving Cuba. Earlier this evening, we got good news that his family has defected from that island prison. The pitcher is on his way to meet his family now.

Posted in Baseball by Eric McErlain | 3 Comments »

 
June 22nd, 2004

How To Avoid Registration

Sick and tired of creating all sorts of different user accounts for all of the newspapers you read? Me too, and that's why I'll be using Bug Me Not from now on.

Check it out. If enough of us start using it, perhaps the newspaper folks will start to pay attention. And by the looks of it, they may not be able to afford to tarry for much longer.

Thanks to Steve Ovadia for the link.

Posted in Media by Eric McErlain | 4 Comments »

 
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